Two Poems by Emelia Reuterfors

Brided

1)

 

I wonder where my bride is

 

.            pigeonwinging

and wired to the banister

 

a split-end.

 

i summon her like an animal

as she comes in binding.

 

.            a dark poinsetta

.            ribboned to stairwell

 

holding back.

 

 

 

2)

 

i’ll snip her down into the birdbath

 

i’ll broach her

.            to neighbors’ daffodils:

a lovely stamen

yellow and plugged.     .with me,

 

 

 

 

3)

 

i gifted her and she wagged

her mouth open.

 

.            how moths escape

.           into the church shadow

.            reposed in ceremony,

 

she no longer wanted

to pattern the world.

 

she doesn’t want to

have legs.

 

 

 

4)

 

our backhanded games

in unlocked rooms

 

.           moves in relation to me.

she loves

.            how the clock clicks

.           under the bed,

 

.           how minutes seem to struggle

.           and snake below us, the

 

arms overlapping arms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wedding Curtain

 

 

my face is windburned as i sit

on a rock watching

 

how their hands writhe

like a wet basket of eels’

grey mouth halo.

 

breathing is something

worth notice:

 

a dry mermaid’s daydream.

 

arm-in-arm, swarms of roses

are martyred but loved,

ice cubes melt on pavement.

 

another disaster

 

whether or not i’ll say

this dress

holds my chest in place,

 

whether or not these

underwater trees

 

are also knifed with promises.

 

 

_________________________________________________

Emelia Reuterfors was raised in the Missouri Ozarks. She received her BA from Beloit College in creative writing, and her MFA in poetry from the University of Arizona. She has received several poetry awards including Tucson Festival of Books award for poetry, Foundation Award, and Poetry Center Award from the University of Arizona. She currently lives in Austin, TX with her punk husband and black cat, Zoltan